Elixir of Courage

Long ago, it is said, an alchemist was hired by a lordling to concoct an elixir to make him a hero; the lordling was a coward at heart, and wished to be otherwise many times. After several false starts, one of which nearly killed the lordling by inducing a heart attack, the alchemist made a daring effort, combining exotic materials to create this potion.

The Elixir is a vile grey-green color, and bubbles softly no matter how warm or cold it is; it never seems to freeze, even in deep arctic conditions, and never boils away, even when subjected to the heat of dragonfire.

The lordling found, when he managed to stomach the foul brew, that his cowardice was no more; unfortunately for him, it did little to enhance his ability as a warrior, and he died soon after by fearlessly leading a charge into an army three times the size of the one he was serving in.

The alchemist refused to let his secrets out, until he died. Now, while still exceptionally rare, Elixirs of Courage can be found occasionally among other, more common potions.

Magical Properties:

The Elixir is a foul, repulsive brew, the grey-green color of wet, rotting sludge, bubbling softly at all times. The taste is reported to be something between the smell of a skunk’s musk and the flavor of raw horse dung, and many who imbibe it are sick for days afterwards as the foul materials used to make it slowly purge themselves from the system.

Some say that the drawbacks are worth it, however - the elixir, when drank, permanently destroys the ability of the drinker to feel fear in any form. While generally not conducive to a long life, the drinker of the potion no longer feels natural fear, wariness, suspicion, paranoia, or anything else related to fear. Even supernatural fear has no effect.

The major drawback actually _is_ the lack of fear. Surrender, retreat, caution, and survival tactics in general become unimportant - the potion does more than burn off fear, it instills a sense of bravado into the drinker, to the point that they consider an entire army to be no more of a threat than a single ant, and often they lead suicidal charges into the foe.

Additional Ideas (0)

Gain the ability to:Vote and add your ideas to submissions.
Upvote and give XP to useful comments.
Work on submissions in private or flag them for assistance.
Earn XP and gain levels that give you more site abilities.
Join a Guild in the forums or complete a Quest and level-up your experience.

Excellent - far better than the usual generic "potions of courage" and a worthy addition to any world. A PC who drank this (if he role-played well) would cause great difficulties to the party as well as advantages.

Heh. Yeah, only the desperate or those with no sense of smell/taste can find it in themselves to down the goop.

I think this potion really helps explain the kick-in-the-door munchkin play-style. You know, where no matter how many times they kick the door in only to find that the door was trapped, or they woke the sleeping troll behind the door, or whatever else, they keep doing it, blindly charging in until they get killed.

Link Backs

Pick up a pathology/microbiology book, and add the diseases/syndroms to your game. Your players will freak out.
Coughed at? Diphteria. or tuberculosis?
Drunk from a muddy stream? Or just walked through? Well, let us introduce you to schistosomiasis...
Hit by a stream of energy? Too moch mana is ust like too much radioactivity - perhaps all mages could develop cancer early if too powerful...